Month: March 2019

Mangan, 17 Mar (IPR): District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer, Shri Raj K Yadav, called a press conference in his chamber today wherein he informed that the first Randomization of EVMs will be held on 18 March in the presence of all political parties at Zilla Bhawan as per the directions of Election Commission of India.

The entire process of randomization will be done through Election Management Software (EMS) and will be video graphed. After randomization all EVMs will be kept assembly constituency/assembly segment-wise.

Thereafter, the EVMs located at Zilla Bhawan (NDZP) strong room will be shifted at newly constructed strong room at premises of the District Administration Centre, Mangan as per the direction of Election Commission of India.

The DEO informed that on 18 March after publication of notification of election by Election Commission of India, the notice of election will be issued by the Office of the District Collector, North; therefore all willing candidates are hereby informed that nomination papers can be collected with other related documents from the office of the District Collector, North.

Further, Only three numbers of vehicle in the convoy of the candidate or accompanying him are to be allowed to come within the periphery of 100 meters (main gate of District Administrative Centre) office of the Returning Officer, North. The maximum number of person who can be allowed to enter the office of returning officer at the time of filing nomination is to be limited to five (including candidate).

Further, Expenditure Observer, Shri Ravi Patel, Indian Railway and Account Service, is also arriving on 18 March in the district to monitor the progress and status of the preparedness of election and he may be contacted on 03592-234003 (landline) or 7586909224 (Mobile Phone) or one can meet him at North District Zilla Panchayat Guest House for any election issues.

Gangtok, 16 Mar (IPR) : In preparation for General Elections 2019, a training programme for Micro Observers appointed for the elections was conducted by Assistant Collector, Mr Rohan Agawane, at the Conference Hall of the District Collectorate, East, today.

Conducted in two batches with around 50 trainees, the training was conducted to equip them with their roles and responsibilities during the election process under the guidelines of the Election Commission of India.

Mr Agawane briefed the Micro Observers appointed for East District on their job profiles, election process and guidelines, instructions, polling materials like EVM, Electoral Rolls, etc.

During the training session, the Micro Observers were given hand-outs of instructions and guidelines and were familiarized with the election process through through videos and Power Point Presentations. They were also imparted with hands-on training for the EVMs and VVPATs.

Further, the District Election Officer/East informed that all preparations have been made for the Nomination Filing period starting from Monday. Adequate security arrangements are being made by District Police as per the instructions. All requirements for filing nominations have been notified at District Administrative Centre notice board and forms are made available at the chamber of Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM)/Gangtok from yesterday onwards .

Gyalshing, 16 Mar (IPR): The sixth and the final day of the 2nd round of training for the final batch of Presiding and Polling Officers 1 was successfully conducted at the Conference Hall of Zilla Panchayat Bhawan in Gyalshing and at the Conference Hall of SDM Office in Soreng simultaneously.

Namchi, 16 Mar (IPR): Some significant facts outlining the overall scenario with regards to General Elections 2019 to Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies in Sikkim, the particular details of South District is that there are a total of eight Assembly Constituencies namely 09 Barfung, 10 Poklok – Kamrang, 11 Namchi – Singhithang, 12 Melli, 13 Namthang – Rateypani, 14 Temi -Namphing, 15 Rangyang-Yangang, 16 Tumin-Lingi which is located in the South district.

According to the South Election Department, the total number of voters for male is 58122 and female is 56684 totaling to 114806 as compared to the total number of voters during the General Election in the year 2014 which was 100643. It may be mentioned here that a cumulative number of 53 polling stations has been identified as critical in the district.

District Election Officer (DEO), South, Mr. Ragul K., informed about the activities and development for the ensuing General Elections and said that the Notice of Election will be issued on 18th March 2019. He informed that the nomination papers are to be delivered by a candidate or his proposer to the office of the DEO at District Administrative Centre, Namchi at the given stipulated time and date. He also added that the candidates are to submit Affidavit, Form 26, Oath of Affirmation, SC/ST Certificate in case of candidates belonging to the SC/ST category, certified copy of Electoral Roll (ER) and passport sized photos for printing photos in ballot paper.

Further, the DEO stated that the candidate is required to open one separate Bank Account in his name or jointly with his election agent before filing nominations and this account number has to be intimated in writing to the DEOs Office while filing nomination.

The candidate is required to make a security deposit of Rs.10,000/-only in cash or in the form of TDR for contesting in an Assembly Constituency. A candidate belonging to SC/ST category is required to make a security deposit of only half the amount mentioned above.

Additionally, he informed that sample form are being distributed and the same can be collected from DAC, South.

The trainer, Mr Rohan Agawane informed that the training was conducted primarily to brief and acquaint the expenditure monitoring team members on the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for the elections and strict Adherence to the Model Code of Conduct. It was further informed that all the teams falling under the committee were imparted hands-on training sessions on correctly filling in the daily report formats and submitting them to the office of the District Election Officer and their concerned officials/heads.More than 100 trainees were part of the two day training programme.

District Election Officer, East has informed that Nomination Papers are available now in District Administrative Centre with Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gangtok in Room No. 210.

Political Parties or the candidates maybtake copies of Nominations and Affidavit (form-26) from the office and filing of nominations will be allowed from 18th to 25th March between 11 AM to 3PM except on public holidays. As per Election Commission of India instructions, public holidays also includes fourth Saturday of a month.

The nominations for Sikkim Parliamentary Constituency and 7 Assembly Constituencies No. 23 to 28 &. 32 Sangha Constituency shall be received in the Chamber of District Collector, East and for Assembly Constituencies No. 17 to 22 shall be received in the Chamber of Addl. District Collector, East who are Returning Officer for the respective constituencies.

Mangan, March 15 (IPR):
Three days long District level “School Sports Meet” 2018-19 was started from 14th of March in North district. The meet will be concluded on 16th of March 2019. Altogether eight different disciplines such as Athletics, Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Football, Karate, Table Tennis and Taekwondo were played at different venues of the district. Said sports meet was organized by Human Resource Development department in collaboration with Sports and Youth Affairs Department, Government of Sikkim. The meet was organized for the students of below 17 years of age.
Table Tennis, Taekwondo and Badminton were played at Mangan Nagar Panchayat Hall. Final match of district level Table Tennis for the boy’s category was won by Chungthang Block and in girl’s category Mangan Block won the match. In total 34 students from four Block had participated in Table Tennis. Similarly in Taekwondo 7 boys and 7 girls were selected for state level meet.
Final match of the district level Football won by Mangan Block in both categories, which was played on 14th of March at Mangan, Public ground. District level boxing will be played at Mangshila on 16th of March.
As informed by Mrs. Janim Lepcha, Deputy Director, Sports and Youth Affairs Department, North that district level Sports Meet was participated by the students of different school from four Blocks of the district. She further said that the selected players in different disciplines of the district level meet will perform in the forthcoming state level sports meet 2018-19 which will be held at State capital, Gangtok from 18th–22nd March.

Gangtok, 14 Mar (IPR): As the general elections are springing up with much enthusiasm among the voters and curiosity among the first time voters, a Voters Facilitation Centre has been set up at M.G. Marg in Gangtok in order to sensitise the public regarding any queries related to their respective electoral polls and to provide requisite information.

More than 200 people have visited the facilitation centre and availed facilities regarding the EVMs, VVPATs and online verification of names in voters list.

The Voter Facilitation Centre is being managed by staff of Office of CEO, Balwakhani and DEO, East.

Gangtok, 14 Mar (IPR): Keeping in view the forthcoming General Election 2019, the District Election Officer/District Collector (East), Shri Kapil Meena, held a meeting with Sector Officer/ Magistrates of East district today at the DAC conference hall.

During the meeting, the DEO asked the Sector Magistrates to visit all the respective designate areas of East district so as to ensure proper implementation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC). He sought for smooth coordination between Sector Officers, Sector Police Officers, Sub-Sector Police Officers and staffs for proper coordination and cooperation.

The officials were also asked to respond instantly to complaints received through phone calls or in written form. The Sector Magistrates are also required to update assured minimum facilities at Polling stations and work as overall in-charge for all Election activities in the respective sectors.

Earlier, ADC (East), Shri Bharani Kumar, spoke in detail about the various roles and responsibilities of Sector Magistrates during pre-poll, poll eve and poll day for the entire election process. In his address he mainly focused on the guidelines laid by the Election Commission of India which includes the duties of Sector Magistrates after the MCC is in place.

Shri Bharani explained each and every step of the polling process do’s and don’ts and asked all Sector Magistrates to ensure smooth election on April 11 next month.

The meeting was followed by hands on training of EVMs and VVPATs so as to accustom them in preparation for the polling day.

Gangtok, 14 Mar (IPR): Keeping in line with the Model Code of Conduct for the upcoming General Elections, 2019, the District Collector/East District, Shri Kapil Meena, who is also the District Election Officer, chaired a co-ordination meeting with all the expenditure monitoring related organisations.

Held at the office of the District Collector/ East, the meeting was attended by officials from the State Excise Department, the Income Tax Department and officials and representatives from public and private sector banks.

The core aim of the meeting was to apprise the financial organizations about the various guidelines regarding financial transactions that have come to effect since the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The DEO informed that 1 Expenditure Observer and 12 Assistant Expenditure Observers for all the 12 Constituencies in East District have been appointed for effective vigilance and monitoring of all individual expenditures during the elections. He gave directions to the banks to submit daily transaction reports in a consolidated format and that all unusual and suspicious activities exceeding Rs. 1 lakh are to be reported to the office of the DEO.

Other guidelines in respect to the bank accounts of candidates and political parties, priority assistance in opening up of new election related accounts and delivering of cash in vans by third party agencies, are to be strictly adhered to, informed the DEO.

In regards to information of suspicious or illegal cash, foreign currency and fake Indian currency notes found during the elections, the office of the DEO would be the first point of contact for such instances, it was informed.

The DEO also briefed the officials from the Excise Department on the use and mis-use of liquor during elections, various possible MCC violations and the need to monitor expenditure. He further directed them to appoint Nodal Officers to be attached with Flying Squads and Static Surveillance Teams and also compile daily reports and submit them to the office of the DEO.

In conclusion, the DEO solicited the support and co-operation of the Banks and other financial institutions to ensure that there is no violation of the Model Code Of Conduct and the election process is carried out smoothly and successfully.